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Globe and Mail
5 days ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Sonendo, Inc. Reports Second Quarter 2025 Financial Results and Reaffirms Financial Guidance
Sonendo, Inc. ('Sonendo' or the 'Company'), a leading dental technology company and developer of the GentleWave® System, today reported select financial results for the three-months ended June 30, 2025 and reaffirmed 2025 financial guidance. Select Second Quarter Financial Results Generated $7.4 million of total revenue for the second quarter of 2025, an 11% decline compared to the prior year period, which was expected and driven entirely by lower console sales through a smaller and more cost effective sales team; Reported an increase in gross margin to 41% for the second quarter of 2025, up 320 basis points compared to the prior year period; Reported a $3.6 million reduction in loss from continuing operations compared to the prior period, to $3.9 million for the second quarter of 2025; Drove a 47% year-over-year improvement in Adjusted EBITDA loss to $3.0 million for the second quarter of 2025, driven by focused operational efficiencies; Significantly reduced free cash flow burn to $2.6 million, a 61% reduction compared to the prior year period. 'We are pleased by the continued progress we have made in generating increasing operating leverage in the business, as demonstrated in our second quarter 2025 financial and operational results,' said Bjarne Bergheim, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sonendo. 'In particular, we are selling consoles much more efficiently and with a focus on driving higher procedure instrument utilization. We are also focusing the commercial team's efforts on being more responsive to the clinical needs of our customers and their patients. We recently improved the liquidity profile of the Company in a meaningful way, and we remain steadfastly committed to operational excellence and to position Sonendo for robust, long-term and profitable growth.' As of June 30, 2025, the Company's cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments totaled $9.3 million, and there was $14.2 million of principal outstanding under the Company's credit facility. Financial Guidance The Company is reaffirming the 2025 financial guidance it previously provided, which reflects management's latest expectations and is provided below. (1) See additional information included in the Company's Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 12, 2024 for additional information about the Company's use of these non-GAAP financial measures. About Sonendo Sonendo is a commercial-stage medical technology Company focused on saving teeth from tooth decay, the most prevalent chronic disease globally. Sonendo develops and manufactures the GentleWave® System, an innovative technology platform designed to treat tooth decay by cleaning and disinfecting the microscopic spaces within teeth without the need to remove tooth structure. The system utilizes a proprietary mechanism of action, which combines procedure fluid optimization, broad-spectrum acoustic energy and advanced fluid dynamics, to debride and disinfect deep regions of the complex root canal system in a less invasive procedure that preserves tooth structure. The clinical benefits of the GentleWave System when compared to conventional methods of root canal therapy include improved clinical outcomes, such as superior cleaning that is independent of root canal complexity and tooth anatomy, high and rapid rates of healing and minimal to no post-operative pain. In addition, the GentleWave System can improve the workflow and economics of dental practices. For more information about Sonendo and the GentleWave System, please visit To find a GentleWave doctor in your area, please visit Forward-Looking Statements This news release includes forward-looking statements (statements which are not historical facts) within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include, but are not limited to, the Company's expectations regarding 2025 financial performance, including (among other things) revenue, gross margin, adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow; and the Company's ability to achieve robust, long-term and profitable growth. You are cautioned that such statements are not guarantees of future performance and that our actual results may differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions; speak only as of the date they are made; and, as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties that may change at any time. Factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements are described in detail in the 'Risk Factors' section of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K that was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 26, 2025. Such filings are available at The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent developments, events, or circumstances, except as may be required under applicable securities laws. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and the Company assumes no obligation and does not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
Entrepreneur
08-08-2025
- Business
- Entrepreneur
How to Train AI to Actually Understand Your Business
AI tools only deliver meaningful results when they are given clear, structured business context — without it, even the best systems produce irrelevant, low-impact output. Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. A few months ago, I was in a strategy session with a mid-sized company that had just implemented an AI assistant to support their sales team. The promise was bold. The tool would draft personalized emails, prioritize leads and surface insights from their CRM. Within a week, they were disappointed. The emails sounded flat. The lead scoring made no sense. The insights felt irrelevant. But the problem wasn't the AI. The problem was the missing context. The AI was functioning exactly as designed. It just had no idea who their customers really were, how their sales team operated or what made the brand sound like itself. They gave the system data. But they didn't give it meaning. And in today's AI-powered world, meaning is everything. Related: What Is Artificial Intelligence (AI)? Here Are Its Benefits, Uses and More Why context is the competitive edge Most AI conversations revolve around capability: What can this tool do? Can it automate tasks? Draft emails? Forecast revenue? But capability without clarity leads nowhere. AI isn't here to think for you — it's here to accelerate decisions you already know how to make. It does that best when it understands your world. That understanding is built through context. With the right context, AI becomes an amplifier. Without it, it's a liability. The difference between content and context Most businesses are producing more content than ever — blogs, emails, product pages. But content alone doesn't move the needle anymore. Context is what tells AI how to interpret that content. It creates structure, order and trust. It's the invisible framework that helps AI reflect your business accurately and meaningfully. This isn't about writing more — it's about designing a system that reflects the truth of your business in a way machines can understand. The five layers of context every business needs In my work with clients across sectors, I've seen one pattern hold true. The businesses that win with AI are not the ones that use the most tools. They're the ones who master their own message and operational clarity. These are the five core layers I help clients define and deploy: 1. Foundational clarity: What you do, who you serve, what you offer and what sets you apart — communicated consistently across every channel. 2. Customer understanding: Document the problems your customers face, the results they want and the language they use. This informs everything from prompts to positioning. 3. Brand tone and voice: AI defaults to neutral. Your job is to teach it how you sound — whether bold, technical, nurturing or direct — and embed that in your AI strategy. 4. Platform consistency: Your website, LinkedIn, press coverage and directories should tell the same story. AI builds a digital "knowledge graph" of you, and inconsistencies erode trust. 5. Process transparency Internal workflows matter. AI works better when it understands how leads move through your system, what onboarding looks like and where handoffs happen. Without that, automation gets messy. Related: AI for the Underdog — Here's How Small Businesses Can Thrive With Artificial Intelligence What this looks like in practice I once worked with a founder who was frustrated that AI couldn't write sales emails that sounded human. But when I looked at the prompt they were using, it simply said "Write a follow-up email to a new lead." That's not a prompt. That's a guess, so we rewrote it using their actual business context. We included who the lead was, what problem they were facing, what the founder wanted to emphasize and the kind of tone that reflects their values. The result was something they were proud to send. That's the power of context engineering. We are moving toward a world where AI agents will become the default discovery layer for customers. People will no longer browse. They'll ask a question. The agent will answer. So, if your business lacks clarity, structure and contextual trust, you won't even be in the running. But if your business is architected with context, the machine will recommend to you confidently. It will summarize you accurately. It will help you scale with integrity and speed. The future of business belongs to the owners who take time to articulate their nuance. AI does not reward noise. It rewards clarity. The brands that win in this next chapter will not just be visible. They will be deeply understood, and the only way to be understood by a machine is to first understand yourself. Ready to break through your revenue ceiling? Join us at Level Up, a conference for ambitious business leaders to unlock new growth opportunities.
Zawya
15-07-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Initial actions that help organisations stay afloat
Last week, my article revolved around the common strategy, steps or approaches that many organisations usually follow in order to save themselves from sinking. The typical steps include appointing a new CEO, reshuffling the senior executive leadership team, cutting costs from every corner and finally pushing the sales team with and for aggressive revenue targets. While these moves are intended to restore confidence and improve the financial performance as a result, they often only produce short-term optimism and consequently fail to address deeper issues (the main problems per se). New leaders normally surround themselves with loyalists (or friends, family and past colleagues) rather than capable challengers. Cost-cutting measures can harm innovation and morale; and finally, aggressive sales tactics often ignore root causes like outdated products or customer dissatisfaction, to name a few. Without a strategic and evidence-based plan, these reactive measures rarely produce fruitful results. True transformation requires more than just surface-level change. My article this week focuses on some of the initial actions that can be followed in order to recover and stay afloat (based on research from renowned institutions that experienced the same). Irrespective of whether it's a new or an existing leader and/or senior leadership team in place, listening deeply, widely and carefully is the number one action that needs to be done. Taking time to understand the problems is crucial before doing anything else. Listening to employees on the ground, frontline staff, long-time customers, old clients and even past employees will surely help find out the problem being faced. Unfortunately, this is rarely the case and as a result, problems will remain one way or another. Secondly, the leader and their senior executive team need to ensure trust is rebuilt internally. This can be in ensuring they are visible and approachable (by repetitive communicating and keeping an open door policy), acknowledging what's shared (be it in the form of comments and feedback), consistently sharing a clear vision, mission, strategy and related road map (of where they are going, how and when); and finally keeping employees and various stakeholders engaged throughout the journey. Trust doesn't come from promises. It comes from transparency and consistency. It is important for the leadership team to carefully identify employees internally who still believe, still perform and still care for the success of the organisation. Loyal employees are valuable for the organisation. What they only need is someone to listen to them and give them a room to lead and grow. Some of these employees may not have the loudest voice, but they carry the culture. They are the internal champions who will drive the recovery from within. Do not ignore but empower them. Treating all the employees the same is a mistake that needs to be avoided. Action speaks louder. The new team in place needs to take decisive action immediately upon joining, listening and empowering the right team and employees in place, for this will send a message that things are happening. Urgency is important, but random, reactive decisions only create more confusion. Leaders need to continue communicating regularly and tracking progress transparently and should not be afraid to take action for changes when necessary. Leaders with clear, transparent and fair action are respected dearly. In conclusion, loud announcements and mass layoffs may result in a short-term win. However, truth be told, these moves are unsustainable in the long term. Clarity, humility and trust, followed by a focused execution, is what would not only save but also sustain the growth of the organisation in question. People need to understand that fixing a business starts by understanding the people, the purpose and the pain points. Thoughtful but not flashy turnaround is the name of the game and only those who know and play the game win. Until we catch up again next week, be positive and stay alert. 2022 © All right reserved for Oman Establishment for Press, Publication and Advertising (OEPPA) Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
Travel Weekly
30-05-2025
- Business
- Travel Weekly
Koreen McNutt joins Virgin Voyages' sales team
Virgin Voyages has added to its sales executive team, aiming to bolster support of travel advisors. Koreen McNutt Koreen McNutt is the new vice president of agency and business development, and Kristy Woolums is now senior director of national strategic accounts for North America. McNutt was most recently with MSC Cruises, where she was commercial sales officer and senior vice president of sales and trade engagement. She previously worked at Expedia Group. Stephen Hopkins Additionally, the vice president of growth and international sales and marketing, Stephen Hopkins, will now also handle sales acceleration. All three will work under chief marketing officer Nathan Rosenberg as part of what Virgin describes as a newly unified commercial team. Rosenberg took over the duties of John Diorio, who resigned as vice president of North American sales earlier this month. Kristy Woolums "By working in better coordination across our brand story, marketing strategy and sales execution, we reduce mixed messages and disconnected experiences for our First Mates," Rosenberg said. (First Mates are travel advisors.) "This creates integrated strategies that make it easier for them to sell Virgin Voyages successfully." Woolums was promoted from within Virgin Voyages and will now work exclusively on high-value strategic partnerships. CLARIFICATION: This report was edited to removed the implication that McNutt left MSC Cruises for Virgin Voyages.
Travel Weekly
29-05-2025
- Business
- Travel Weekly
Sales executive departs MSC Cruises for Virgin Voyages
Virgin Voyages has added to its sales executive team, aiming to bolster support of travel advisors. Koreen McNutt Koreen McNutt is the new vice president of agency and business development, and Kristy Woolums is now senior director of national strategic accounts for North America. McNutt joins Virgin Voyages from MSC Cruises, where she was commercial sales officer and senior vice president of sales and trade engagement. She previously worked at Expedia Group. Stephen Hopkins Additionally, the vice president of growth and international sales and marketing, Stephen Hopkins, will now also handle sales acceleration. All three will work under chief marketing officer Nathan Rosenberg as part of what Virgin describes as a newly unified commercial team. Rosenberg took over the duties of John Diorio, who resigned as vice president of North American sales earlier this month. Kristy Woolums "By working in better coordination across our brand story, marketing strategy and sales execution, we reduce mixed messages and disconnected experiences for our First Mates," Rosenberg said. (First Mates are travel advisors.) "This creates integrated strategies that make it easier for them to sell Virgin Voyages successfully." Woolums was promoted from within Virgin Voyages and will now work exclusively on high-value strategic partnerships.
